Unauthorized Disclosure

As Hurricane Irma hits Florida, we have an interview with Niecee X of the Black Women's Defense League about the organizing work the organization is doing to provide relief for those in the Houston area impacted by Hurricane Harvey. They are particularly focused on women of color and marginalized people, who are neglected and under-served after natural disasters. During the discussion portion of the show, Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola talk about Hurricane Irma, Hillary Clinton's unwanted book tour, and North Korea.

In this abbreviated episode, the show highlights listener comments and covers President Donald Trump's decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan. Particularly, the show focuses upon how President Barack Obama kept the war going and takes to task Democrats who are meekly pledging to demand specifics to ensure Trump's strategy works. The specifics that matter are the statistics that reflect the human toll - the number of civilians killed, the children killed in airstrikes, the number of refugees who have fled, etc.Shaving Mirror Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

On this week's show, we interview Juan Demetrixx, an organizer of Howard University Resist, and Jared Ware, journalist and producer of the "Beyond Prisons" podcast. Demetrixx talks about what he witnessed on the ground in Charlottesville a little more than a week ago. Ware highlights Redneck Revolt, one of a large contingent of left-wing groups that was present in Charlottesville. Later in the interview, Demetrixx and Ware share their perspectives on confronting or challenging white supremacists and the response of Donald Trump's administration to the violence in Charlottesville. The second half of the show is spent reading a statement from Palestinian American activist Rasmea Odeh, who had her sentencing hearing in Detroit. The judge refused to let her read this statement. She will be deported. And also, we highlight a settlement in lawsuit against CIA torture psychologists and pay tribute to the black comic and civil rights activist Dick Gregory, who died on August 19.Shaving Mirror Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Host Kevin Gosztola interviews Tom Secker, the co-author of "National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence Of Government Control in Hollywood." The interview highlights a few examples of Pentagon or CIA influence, including "Contact," "The Interview," and "Hulk" in the Marvel cinematic universe. The two discuss the nature of national security cinema, how government agencies go to lengths to keep records on their collaboration with Hollywood secret, and why. They also get into the military's interest in demilitarizing or "civilianizing" movies.

This is is a snippet of Patron Exclusive content, which was recently posted. Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola discuss Venezuela. The exclusive was recorded on August 6. The crisis in Venezuela continues to be intense. It has escalated sharply since the world rejected President Nicolas Maduro's call for a constituent assembly vote. Or to put it another way, since the opposition in Venezuela refused to participate in a democratic process and instead carried out another round of violent protests to further destabilize the country. For access to the full discussion, .

Amal Saad, a professor of political science at Lebanese University and the author of a book called, "Hezbollah: Politics and Religion," joins the show to talk about Hezbollah and its role as a resistance army in Lebanon. Hezbollah recently liberated a part of Lebanon near the Syria-Lebanon border that was controlled by al Qaida. We spend the hour with Saad, as she describes Hezbollah's history of protecting what it sees as the "Resistance Axis," countries in the Middle East which challenge the U.S. and Israel. She addresses the notion of sectarianism around the Shia crescent and outlines the reality on the ground — the demographics of people who truly faced violence and oppression for their identity and needed help to survive. Later in the episode, Saad and Rania Khalek break down some of the key misperceptions the left has about identity, terrorism, and resistance in countries like Lebanon.Shaving Mirror Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Hosts of the "Unauthorized Disclosure" weekly podcast welcome Kim Wilson and Brian Sonenstein, co-hosts of the "Beyond Prisons" podcast, to the show. Wilson and Sonenstein discuss their new show, which covers prisons and prison reform from an abolitionist perspective. It elevates people directly impacted by the system of mass incarceration by featuring their voices. In the latter half of the episode, a short segment highlights how CIA torture architects James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen invoked the cases of accused Nazi war criminals to argue they should not be held responsible for torture.Shaving Mirror Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Abdul Malik Mujahid, president of Sound Vision, which does public relations for Muslim American communities, joins the show to talk about the Muslim Ban, the Islamic State, the refugee crisis, wars in the Middle East, and more. During the discussion portion, Rania Khalek, who is in Syria, talks about some of what she is witnessing and uncovering. Khalek and Kevin Gosztola spend the rest of the show on issues, such as the lack of left opposition to the right-wing destabilization of Venezuela.Shaving Mirror Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola highlight previous clips from the show in this "Best Of" episode that features: Nima Shirazi, Douglas Williams, Vivek Chibber, and Donna Murch.Shaving Mirror Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Former CIA officer John Kiriakou and former US Marine Joseph Hickman join the show to discuss their new book on Abu Zubaydah called "The Convenient Terrorist: Two Whistleblowers' Stories Of Torture, Terror, Secret Wars, and CIA Lies." Kiriakou was involved in the capture of Abu Zubaydah, who the U.S. government initially claimed was the No. 3 man in al Qaida. Hickman was stationed at Guantanamo Bay. They wrote a definitive book on Abu Zubaydah to call attention to details the U.S. government would prefer the public ignore about him.Shaving Mirror Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/